Athens Dawg Report
Independent Georgia Bulldogs Coverage · athensdawgreport.com
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2026 Season
Seven home games between the hedges, four true road trips, and Florida in Atlanta. The SEC moved to nine conference games this season, so Georgia now plays only three non-conference opponents a year — one of which is always Georgia Tech.
| Date | Opponent | Site | Time / TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Sep 5 | Tennessee StateSanford Stadium | Home | 3:00 ET · SECN+ |
| Sat, Sep 12 | Western KentuckySanford Stadium | Home | 12:45 ET · SECN |
| Sat, Sep 19 | at ArkansasDonald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville | Away | 12:00 ET · ABC |
| Sat, Sep 26 | 10OklahomaSanford Stadium | Home | TBA |
| Sat, Oct 3 | VanderbiltSanford Stadium | Home | TBA |
| Sat, Oct 10 | 13at AlabamaBryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa | Away | TBA |
| Sat, Oct 17 | AuburnSanford Stadium | Home | TBA |
| Sat, Oct 24 | Open date | — | — |
| Sat, Oct 31 | FloridaMercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta | Neutral | 3:30 ET · ABC |
| Sat, Nov 7 | 9at Ole MissVaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford | Away | TBA |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 25MissouriSanford Stadium | Home | TBA |
| Sat, Nov 21 | at South CarolinaWilliams-Brice Stadium, Columbia | Away | TBA |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Georgia TechSanford Stadium | Home | TBA |
Rankings shown are from the AP preseason poll and will move all season. SEC Championship Game: Saturday, December 5, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta — Georgia plays only if it finishes in the league's top two. The College Football Playoff follows in December and January.
Game by game
Twelve games, and only a handful will decide the season. Here's how to read the slate before it starts.
Week 1 · Sat, Sep 5
The first meeting between the programs. Tennessee State is an FCS opponent from the Ohio Valley/Big South. Treat this as a live scrimmage: the interesting part is which freshmen play and whether the new right guard holds up.
Week 2 · Sat, Sep 12
Only the second meeting ever — Georgia won the first 48–12 in 2006. Western Kentucky throws it around and can make a lazy defense look silly for a quarter. Another week to sort the receiver rotation before the road trip.
Week 3 · Sat, Sep 19
First real test. A noon kickoff in Fayetteville with the hog calls going is a legitimately awkward place to open SEC play, and Georgia has to travel across two time zones' worth of attitude to do it.
Week 4 · Sat, Sep 26
Only the second meeting ever, and the first was the 54–48 double-overtime Rose Bowl semifinal after the 2017 season — still one of the best games in playoff history. Oklahoma's defense has been the strength of the program under Brent Venables.
Week 5 · Sat, Oct 3
Vanderbilt is no longer a scheduled day off, and Georgia knows it. Diego Pavia's Commodores made a habit of beating ranked teams. Watch for a slow, possession-heavy game script.
Week 6 · Sat, Oct 10
The biggest road game on the board. Georgia's only regular-season loss in 2025 came to Alabama before the Bulldogs returned the favor 28–7 in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama opened outside the AP top 10 for the first time since 2008.
Week 7 · Sat, Oct 17
The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, first played in 1892. It rarely matters what either record says. Note the schedule spot: sandwiched between Alabama and the open date.
Bye week · Sat, Oct 24
The bye lands before Florida, which is exactly where you want it. Expect Kirby Smart to use it on self-scouting and getting banged-up linemen back.
Week 9 · Sat, Oct 31
The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party leaves Jacksonville for the first time since 1995 while EverBank Stadium is renovated. It's in Atlanta this year and Tampa in 2027. Neutral in name; in Atlanta it will not feel neutral.
Week 10 · Sat, Nov 7
The revenge game. Ole Miss ended Georgia's season 39–34 in the Sugar Bowl, scoring 20 fourth-quarter points and snapping a 75-game streak of Georgia winning when leading entering the fourth. Oxford in November is a hard place to fix that.
Week 11 · Sat, Nov 14
Missouri has quietly been one of the more physical teams in the league and always seems to catch somebody napping in November.
Week 12 · Sat, Nov 21
Williams-Brice at night with 'Sandstorm' going is one of the loudest environments in the sport. A trap spot with Georgia Tech waiting the following week.
Week 13 · Sat, Nov 28
Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Tech has closed the gap and took Georgia to overtime in recent meetings. Under the new SEC format this is one of only three non-conference games Georgia will play in a season, and it is permanent.
The shape of it
Two non-conference home games before the first road trip. Georgia gets three weeks to solve the receiver rotation and the right guard spot before anything counts in the standings.
Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, at Alabama, Auburn, then Florida after the bye. Five games in six weeks that will settle whether this is a playoff team or another 10-win year.
At Ole Miss, three weeks after Florida. The Rebels ended each of the last two things Georgia wanted most. That one will be circled in Athens from the first day of camp.